A/n: So...reading Brave New World is detremental to my SasuNaru muse apparently. I can't turn out the rest of chapter 12 to save my life >.o But despite my moving around furniture, you will get chapter 12! I am determined!! So hold tight and enjoy what is going through my mind right now.

Story: The Yamanaka Clan was prided for being able to mold other's minds into what they wanted and for their ability to use some one's mind against them. Raising a child in a clan like that is difficult but Hizou knows that everything will turn out just fine if only Ino would smile...

Choices

Ino stared up at her parents with all the innocence in the world, her eyes wide with childish curiosity and her heart beating soundly inside her chest. Her parents smiled lovingly down at their beautiful daughter as her mouth split into a wide and sweet smile. Today they were going to be telling her the basics of a mind transfer jutsu, despite the fact that she was only five and not yet in the ninja academy. They knew that if Ino had a head start she was sure to shine when it came time to for kids to be kids and show off. She shifted from one foot to the other to pass her boredom silently.

"Ino," Hizou, her mother, said in a soft tone. "Today your father is going to talk to you about our family's signature jutsu."

Bright sky blue eyes lit up, "Really?!" She nearly jumped out of her skin with excitement.

She swayed her body from left to right rapidly to accurately portray her excitement. Her father had told her so much about the mind transfer jutsu, she only dreamed about being able to trade minds with some one else. Ino began to hop a little bit as the intensity built up inside of her. A strong hand sat softly on her shoulder and her father gave her that smile that told her to sit still.

"Sit down Ino," he instructed with a motion to the ground below them.

He had chosen this area of their backyard because there was a patch of soft dirt that could serve as a sort of chalkboard for picture instruction. A spindly white stick lay next to Inoichi's legs as he crossed them to get level with his bouncing daughter. While Ino was obviously excited, he could see her shoulders shake from happiness, she was very good at keeping quiet. He picked up the stick and wrote the jutsu's name in the damp soil. Ino turned her head to read it, since her father absentmindedly wrote it so only he could read it.

"Mind transfer jutsu," she recited quite articulately for a five year old.

With the name out of the way Inoichi began to teach his beautiful daughter exactly how to do the famous jutsu.

Ino's mother can clearly recall the first time she told her daughter something that would shape her life forever, even if Ino can only recall it as bleary day of innocence.

The blonde child came home from the ninja academy with her father escorting her from the school and through the door to the modest Yamanaka home. She removed her shoes and kept looking at the ground curiously. Something was bothering her, this much was obvious. But it seemed odd because these days nothing penetrated Ino's amazing confidence. While other kids were doubting their strengths Ino was boasting, and rightfully so. She had not yet done a complete transfer she was at the stage where she could hear their thoughts clearly in her ears. So she was a ball of never ending energy that seemed to exude confidence and magnificence.

But on this particular day she was wearing a look of puzzlement and insecurity. Hizou stood in the kitchen, tenderly spraying a mist of water and plant vitamins on her newly bloomed violets. Her ears picked up the sound of Ino's pattering feet and she put down her spray bottle and wiped her hands on the white apron that hung around her waist. Ino came into the kitchen with the expression of a lost puppy.

"What's wrong Ino-chan?" Hizou cooed when Ino stopped in front of her and looked like she was as helpless as the day she was born.

Ino pulled at her hair and her mother's thin fingers batted those tiny fingers away, "Mommy, is it wrong to hold hands with another girl?" she asked more confused than ever.

"Aww baby," she kneeled down to her daughter's level. "What happened today at school?"

The girl in question twisted her wrists every direction in all her confusion, "Today I made friends with a little girl named Sakura and we were walking outside when it was lunch time, she shared her cookies with me, her mom makes really really good cookies," Ino could have gone on forever about sharing lunches and such trivialities but her mother laughed and told Ino to tell her what happened to upset her and Ino nodded.

"And we were holding hands when Iruka-sensei called us back inside but a bunch of the older kids were pointing at us and saying that we were gay…Mommy, what does that mean?" Ino asked in a desperate tone.

Hizou sucked in a large amount of air, how was she going to explain this to a seven year old? It was far too early in her life for talks like this. She exhaled and looked back at her poor daughter.

"Ino, do not worry about those kids," she told her child. "They are just mean and will do anything to be mean."

Ino nodded but still wouldn't smile, "But you didn't tell me what 'gay' means."

Hizou hoped that Ino would have been distracted by her advice and would have forgotten her question in the process. She took Ino's hands in her own and kissed the small girl's forehead gingerly.

"I will tell you when you are older, for now you do not need to worry about it."

Ino nodded but still wouldn't smile, "Is it okay for a girl to hold another girl's hand?"

Another deep breath, another exhale, "Ino, you will learn that being in this clan means that you will be spending a lot of time in other people's minds. I am not going to tell you who you can and cannot hold hands with because that is something you need to figure out on your own."

Hizou knew that was a bit more dramatic than what a seven year old's question warranted but she also knew that if she started telling her precious daughter that now then Ino would understand it more and more as she grew up.

Ino nodded and this time she smiled as if she knew exactly what her mother was talking about and that what her mommy had said was exactly what she wanted to hear.

Hizou smiled back at Ino and kissed her forehead again and stood to finish watering her violets. Ino turned around with a flare of the orange tank top that was too big for her and headed up to her room to do some of her homework. Hizou stood and finished her work and thought about how difficult it was to raise a child in a clan that was praised for their usage of other people's minds in battle. She knew that she had done the right thing by telling Ino that it wasn't her mother's place to tell her what to think. Since her little girl was going to be in and out of minds as soon as she hit genin, she needed to find out who she was on her own.

The second time Hizou could remember saying something to change Ino was when her daughter came home holding back tears and biting her lip.

"Ino, I thought you were going to hang out with Sakura," Hizou called from the sitting room.

Ino walked into the room and looked up at her mom for about a second before looking back at the ground in anger and sorrow. Hizou rushed to her and gathered her into her arms but Ino just stood so firm against her mother's body. Repeatedly Hizou whispered 'it's okay' and stroked her daughter's hair.

"She doesn't want to be friends with me anymore!" Ino shouted before a flood of angry and repressed tears spilled out.

"What do you mean Ino-chan?" Hizou knew that even though Ino asked her stop using '–chan' but it comforted her when she was down.

Ino bit at her lip some more, trying to remain strong but failing so miserably (and at the right time for failure), "Sakura! She doesn't w-want to be friends with me anymore because of st-st-stupid Sasuke-kun!"

Hizou took all of Ino into her arms and held her tightly, "It's gonna be okay Ino-chan…"

"No! No! No it's not going to be okay mom!" Ino shouted as she disentangled herself from her mother's embrace. "She thought that I liked stupid Sasuke-kun too!"

Hizou took her daughter's fist and messaged them to loosen them up. If Ino didn't relax those fists she was going to make her palms bleed. But Ino just tore her hands from her mother and stomped a little bit in frustration and the way things were just overwhelming her.

"Could she be any stupider?!" Ino screeched as she gripped her white-blonde hair. "I don't care about Sasuke-kun!" More tears poured out while she said this. "I don't wanna be with Sasuke-kun!"

All Hizou could do was watch her daughter's anguish unfold and bite her own lip to keep strong. If poor Ino saw her mother crying because her precious daughter was crying she would not see her mother as a strong pillar that she could come to at any time.

"I don't care about him…" Ino whispered putting her face into her hands. "I wanna be with Sakura!" she exclaimed without any shame.

Ino sobbed into her hands, tears spilling out onto the bamboo mats and dotting her socks. Her shoulders trembled with the sharp inhales every so often. A few words and phrases were laced in with the tears and pain but most of it was far too incoherent for Hizou to help with.

"Mommy, I-I w-wanna be with S-S-Sakura," she finally pleaded after lifting her face up from her soaked hands. "I just wanna be with her…"

Hizou could see that now she could hold her daughter the way a mother was supposed to in this situation. She pulled Ino into her chest and settled right there in the middle of the sitting room to hold and rock her child's pain away. Ino wrapped her little arms around Hizou's small ribcage and cried hard into the red silk shirt her mother wore. Once the tears stopped Hizou lifted Ino's face to look up at her. Those bright eyes were so full of abandonment and so red and puffy Hizou just kissed her daughter's face before putting a little space between them to talk to her.

"Ino-chan," she began with a heavy sigh. "I know it hurts right now." More silent tears slid down Ino's face at this statement. "But it will all feel better as time passes."

Ino nodded, but didn't smile at this.

"You have to be patient," Hizou said as she rubbed Ino's shoulder rapidly to warm her up. "Everything will happen exactly as it is meant to happen."

Ino nodded, but still wouldn't smile. She thought for a second before speaking, "Mommy, do you think Sakura knows how I feel and that's why she doesn't want to be friends with me?" This sentence of course was not without sniffles and a few streaks of more quiet tears.

"Why would you ever say that Ino-chan?" Hizou asked in a tone that said that Ino should never speak like that. It almost sounded like she was blaming herself for who she chose to love.

"No one ever talks about what girl they like, Mommy," Ino explained feeling like she was a freak for falling for Sakura. "They only talk about boys, but I don't want a boy, I want a girl. Maybe I'm not normal for wanting to be with a girl…" Ino looked at the ground with all the pain and hurt in her eyes and on her sagging shoulders.

"No," Hizou said as she forced her daughter to face her by shaking her a little and holding her face in one hand. "I never want to hear you say that Ino. Your father and I chose to allow you to think and decide for yourself what your beliefs were, it was no mistake. You can love whoever you want. You can wear whatever you want. You can do whatever you want. You are normal."

Ino bit her lip to keep it from trembling, and she nodded but still wouldn't smile.

"No one can tell you that you are not normal," Hizou continued with as much conviction as she felt from a deep space inside her heart. "Don't listen to what anyone has to say, just believe in who you are Ino."

If this conversation wasn't about Ino's broken heart Hizou would have laced something about the Yamanaka's mind jutsus in there and about how you needed to be strong in mind to be able to control some one else's. But she just hugged her daughter tighter into her chest and kissed the side of her face.

"Ino, everything will be alright," Hizou restated when they broke their embrace.

Ino nodded and gave a weak smile this time. She walked away from her mom with her shoulders a little higher but still heavy with the fresh wound. Hizou wiped fiercely at the corners of her eyes to keep the prickle of tears away. Her poor daughter had experience her first heart ache at only eight years old.

The day that Ino asked about love was easy enough to remember. Ino was standing behind the counter at the family flower shop and Hizou was watering the lilies. Ino let out a sigh, it was a slow day and she had yet to be called to a mission with Shikamaru and Chouji. It was one of those days where you just had to sit by idly and let it pass by because there was nothing else to be done. Unconsciously Ino let out another defeated sigh.

Hizou lowered her spray bottle, "What's wrong Ino?" she walked up to the counter and rested her elbow on it to get eye level with her daughter.

"Hmm?" Ino acknowledged her mother.

"You've been sitting her and sighing for the past ten minutes," Hizou informed her as she brushed at long blonde bangs. "What's going on?"

Ino closed her eyes and let out all the air in her lungs, "I'm just so bored. No one's going to come in today."

Hizou smiled at her dear daughter, "I know sweetie but we still have to keep the shop open because there is an off chance that some one might need flowers today."

"I know," Ino replied breathily. "Hey mom, can I ask you something?"

"Anything you want to Ino," Hizou told her as she gave her an encouraging smile.

"Why do I never remember you telling me that love is supposed to be between a man and a woman?" Ino asked with a look reminiscent to when she was a child of only seven, not the young adult of sixteen now.

"Because I never did tell you that, I wanted you to decide what you thought about love on your own," she answered as firm in her convictions as the first time she told Ino.

"But why?" she looked a little damaged by this confession even though she'd heard it many times before.

"Ino," Hizou began. "As you know, being in this clan and being a ninja means having to be in other people's minds so often that sometimes its hard to remember what your mind believes."

Ino nodded but didn't smile.

"Ever since you were little I've been telling you that you need to have a strong mind and the only way that I saw fit to give you that strong mind was by letting you shape your own beliefs on love, life and family," she said with a stern voice to back up what she just stated.

Ino nodded but refused to smile for her mother. Hizou sighed and wiped off the counter with the edge of her store apron.

"Hey, let's close down for a bit and get some lunch in town," Hizou offered with a soft smile on her face.

Ino perked up at this and smiled as she nodded at her generous mother. Hizou patted her cheek and bustled her thin frame around the shop to grab for the keys before motioning for her and Ino to make their way downtown. Ino untied her apron and wadded it up before throwing it on the counter. Hizou rolled her eyes but said nothing to reprimand her daughter for her untidy habits. She noted the sound the dainty bell above their humble shop made when she opened the door to allow Ino and herself to exit.

While they walked toward the downtown area of Konoha Hizou was interrupted briefly a few times so that Ino could wave to a passing comrade or close friend. At one point her beautiful daughter received a hug from the kid who most failed to even acknowledge but he seemed happy enough when he walked away with the Uchiha boy after giving Ino a little bit of loving. Hizou beamed at her daughter, there was a lot of love for her in this village despite how headstrong and loud she could be. She was positive that allowing Ino to form her own beliefs, even when she was so young, was the right decision in the end. Ino had been in the middle of telling Hizou about a mission she went on with the team (there were many moments where Ino had to stop talking in favor of laughing over Shikamaru's slip ups) when a pinked haired girl walked up to Ino, twisting her finger into the tan fabric of the front of her skirt.

"Umm…Ino can I talk to you?" she mumbled out shyly.

Hizou could practically see Ino's heart rate increase. She leaned over and whispered, "Go ahead, just meet me at the tea shop in thirty minutes." Hizou gave her daughter a kiss on her cheek as a vote for courage.

"Yeah Sakura," Ino spoke confidently despite her racing pulse (Oh yes, Hizou could see it picking up speed the more Ino stood there).

Sakura huh? Hizou thought with one last look at her daughter before she began to walk closer to the homely tea shop her and Ino adored. She asked for a table, with three chairs just in case, and sat and waited for her daughter's return which would be filled with good news, fast talking and hopefully one more in their midst.

Hizou brushed her blonde locks from her shoulders and smiled lightly to herself. They hadn't done half bad with Ino, in fact Hizou felt comfortable knowing that all Ino's thoughts and smiles were her own and were more real than anything the world had ever known.

End of Choices

A/N: Yeah...so what did you think? Call me sick, call me twisted, call me what you will, my favorite part to write was when Ino was crying...Okay so that is strange but eh I am too. The whole reason I wrote this was one: because I needed practice with creating believable OC's and two: I adore the Yamanaka Clan SOOOOOOOO much!!

Tell me what you thought of it, I really need feedback on this one, it will affect the SasuNaru story...trust me.